New York Yankees

The Yankees are enjoying a much-needed off-day today, their first true off-day in over two weeks. They open a three-game series with the Rays on Friday, a team that really isn’t a good matchup for them on paper. Then again, it’s a three-game series and anything can happen. That’s the best part of baseball. Here is tonight’s open thread. MLB Network is airing a game tonight, though who you see depends on where you live. There’s also some NHL playoff action, including the NY Rangers trying to stave off elimination. Talk about any of those games and more here. Have at it. Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blogThursday Night Open Thread

In case you haven't read Jason's article like bad boys & girls, the Mariners demoted former Yankees prospect Jesus Montero down to Triple-A Tacoma. He was not demoted to work on his catching or his ability to pitch. That leaves his hitting which, back in the old Pinstripe Alley days, was heralded. Montero has not been the offensive power the Mariners have been looking for. Neither has Justin Smoak. Neither have most Mariners really. Here in the jolly ol' land of Pinstripes, the (before injured) combo of Defensive Warlock Chris Stewart and Francisco Cervelli was quite serviceable. Lyle Overbay, our 4-day trial answer to Juan Rivera, is also hitting decently enough. The Yankees offense that was doomed to stumble and fail has provided their pitching staff with enough hits, dingers, and comeback wins to have them in first place as we come to the end of the month. Considering how well Montero did when he was on the Yankees' major league roster in September of 2011, the greatest September of baseball ever, I really wonder if Kevin Long had anything to do with that and how well the Yankees are hitting currently. There's only so much Long can do though. Vernon Wells has been hitting the ball well, but scouts saw his swing improvement in Spring Training. I doubt Long could do anything with Ben Francisco besides pat him on the back to either tell him it's going to be alright or to help Ben burp. Perhaps he could still do something with someone like Montero though. Or perhaps Montero is just not that great at the major league level and that's why Cashman traded him. Time will tell. Questions: Do you think Kevin Long deserves more/less/no credit for the Yankees offense this season? If possible, would you like Jesus Montero back? Where would you like to go see a Baseball game that you've never been to before? Have you ever been to Disney World in Orlando and if not would you ever want to go? Besides the obvious choice of Yankee Stadium, if there ever was a PSB meet up what location would you choose? Since we have some newcomers around, a classic question: Drink/drinks of choice?

According to a tweet for Newsday’s Erik Boland, New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira may rehab with the Trenton Thunder at Arm & Hammer Park on Tuesday. The two-time Major League All-Star recently started swinging a bat again for the first time since March, when he injured his right wrist.  He’s participated in simulated games, and while his target date to return was believed to be in mid-June, that timetable seems to be accelerated if he plans on being ready by the time the Thunder return home in five days. Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com

Mariano Rivera is some kind of superman, and I don't think that's a stunning revelation to any baseball fan. His longtime success defies the normal shelf life of dominant closers, even on the best teams. Think of all the different closers the great Braves teams of the 1990s and 2000s used, all while Rivera was in pinstripes: Mark Wohlers, Kerry Ligtenberg, John Rocker, John Smoltz, Kyle Farnsworth, Bob Wickman, Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano, Billy Wagner, and now Craig Kimbrel (along with a few others in partial seasons). It's taken them Rivera's entire career to come up with a young reliever who looks like he can stick at it in Kimbrel. All of those closers had flaws, yet still managed to make the playoffs every year from 1991-2005 and twice in the past three seasons. The closer rarely defines the team. Mo was the exception to this rule for so many years. He rarely blew saves or any game he entered, and even when he did, it was uncommon for him to the game get out of hand. He didn't waste time with baserunners as many closers often do--his minuscule 2.0 BB/9 can attest to that. Rivera has stunningly continued his success into his late thirties and early forties as most closers struggle to do. He's only 19 game into his 2013 season, but 17 saves, a 1.0 BB/9, and 1.47 ERA are nothing short of baffling for a 43-year-old who missed almost all of 2012. He is simply money in the bank, the most consistent reliever of all time even without factoring in the playoff numbers. Rivera has announced that 2013 will be his farewell tour, so beginning next year Yankee fans will have to enter a season without Mo for the first time since 1994. Baseball fans seem to generally have high expectations for closers, but whoever succeeds Mo as Yankee closer is bound to have some unreasonable expectations and unfavorable comparisons. "He's fine, but he's no Mo" will be a constant refrain, and that is fine. Overreacting to a closer not playing at the same level as Mo will not be fine. We got a taste of that last year in the rare instances when Soriano blew saves--the Yankee Stadium crowd was not shy about booing a man who was fantastic all season long. A reminder: non-Mo closer seasons can still be terrific seasons. In Rivera's breakout year, he was the setup man for John Wetteland, one of the top three closers of the '90s. Wetteland's season was widely acclaimed as one of the primary reasons for the Yankees' success, as he led the league with 43 saves, made the All-Star team, pitched to a 2.83 ERA, and allowed just three runs all October as the Yankees broke their 18-year World Series drought. For as effective as Wetteland was in '96 though, there were parts of Wetteland's game that would pale in comparison to Rivera's annual numbers. Although he was typically more of a strikeout artist than Mo (other than in '96), Wetteland was notorious for putting baserunners on and making saves more difficult than they needed to be. His 7.6 H/9 and 3.0 BB/9 were higher than Mo's career numbers, and he only had three 1-2-3 innings in the playoffs, whereas Rivera typically went three-up/three-down in his career. Wetteland's ERA- was 58, higher than all but three full seasons of Rivera's career, and his FIP- was 80, a mark higher than any of Rivera's full seasons (as was his 1.3 HR/9 rate). Similarly, Wetteland's WAR that year was 2.4, a mark lower than all but three full seasons of Rivera's career; his fWAR was 1.2, lower than all but one full season of Rivera's career. Wetteland wasn't as perfect as Rivera, but he got the job done. There is value in that. Stepping back a generation or so to not quite the Goose Gossage/Sparky Lyle "fireman" days, Dave Righetti was a highly regarded closer for the Yankees in the '80s. His most acclaimed season was '86, when he set a then-MLB record with 46 saves. It's a little more difficult to compare Rivera's seasons to Righetti's '86 since closers still often pitched over 100 innings, but even so, the numbers posted by "Rags"

At the beginning of every season, we bloggers tend to have some fun with bold predictions. Not to toot my own horn, but I did pretty well in 2012. I had Zack Greinke being traded and headlining the free agent market for starters in the fall over Cole Hamels, then I had Jesus Montero, Michael Pineda, and Hector Noesi struggling with Jose Campos being the most impressive piece of last year's trade, and then I had the Nationals' starting rotation beating out the Phillies'. This season I predicted that the Yankees would have a Rookie of the Year contender. When I made this prediction, I was purposely vague, as I honestly had no idea who it would be. The Yankees have an above average farm system, but most of the top prospects are at least a year away from the major leagues. I made this prediction based on injury concerns, and knowing that players in Triple-A would get a chance at some point. It could have been Vidal Nuno, Adam Warren, Ronnier Mustelier, Thomas Neal, Zoilo Almonte or a number of other potential replacements that we watched in Spring Training. There has been some truth to it, as it's only May and we've already seen a ton of rookies get a chance to play with the Yankees, yet none of them have succeeded enough to start considering them for RoY contention. SMALL SAMPLE SIZE WARNING: David Adams has only had a handful of at bats, but he's certainly received the most hype. Through 27 plate appearances , the infielder has already hit 2 doubles and 2 home runs while playing a very impressive third base. 7 games isn't enough to judge any player, but his early showing has been extremely positive, and fans have already started talking about what the team should do when Kevin Youkilis returns. Personally, I don't buy the glove. I've seen him make some terrific plays, but with just 60 minor league games played at the hot corner, and a less than positive reputation by scouts, it's hard to believe that Adams could continue to play a flawless third base. Regardless, Adams knows that he'll live and die by his bat, and the only way he'll stay with the major league team is to keep hitting the ball. The question remains, is his bat for real? Click “View Full Post” to continue.

Via Joel Sherman & Andy McCullough: Right-hander Michael Pineda averaged 93 mph during today’s five-inning Extended Spring Training start according to team officials. I would take that with a grain of salt considering the source. Sherman says the plan is for Pineda to make one more ExST outing next week before going out on an official 30-day rehab assignment. The team will eventually decide if he is big league ready or in need of more Triple-A time. Meanwhile, the Mariners demoted Jesus Montero to Triple-A today according to Ryan Divish. He hasn’t hit a lick since the trade, producing a miserable .252/.293/.377 (86 wRC+) line with 18 homers in 663 plate appearances to go along with awful defense behind the plate. Seattle is apparently going to work him out at first base in the minors, which is probably long overdue. This trade remains firmly in lose-lose territory. What a spectacular mess. Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blogPineda averaged 93 mph today; close to official rehab assignment

We’ll start with some background on this topic. First, see this, below, which was authored by Allan Simpson in the February 2005 edition of Baseball America- USA Baseball has enacted a change in the age cutoff date for youth organizations that could have far-reaching ramifications for the game, possibly even affecting the major leagues down the road. For more than 60 years, the universal cutoff date for youth baseball competition has been July 31. But USA Baseball, at the behest of its member organizations, passed a resolution at the recent American Baseball Coaches Association convention in Nashville to roll back that date to April 30. The change will go into effect in 2006 at the earliest and 2007 at the latest. “The entire membership of USA Baseball voted on the change,” said Paul Seiler, the organization’s executive director. “It is domestic in its impact only.” The impetus for change was brought by Little League Baseball in 2001. The goal of the change is to increase participation by retaining more players in the 12-and-under division, and to bring U.S.-based youth baseball more in line with the standards used in international baseball. Little League proposed Dec. 31 as the age determination date, but it was later amended to April 30. “Our research has shown that more than 95 percent of all Little League programs start their seasons before May 1,” said a spokesman for Little League Baseball. “The change gives the opportunity to those children born in May, June and July to play all or part of their 12-year-old seasons as actual 12-year-olds.” When July 31 was established as the age cutoff date by Little League Baseball in the 1940s, they selected that time because it coincided with the date used by schools in Williamsport, Pa., to divide grade levels. At that time, Little League was the only youth league of its kind and its membership was mostly local. But as Little League has expanded, and the cutoff dates for schools in the U.S. and elsewhere have changed, the primary reason for July 31 deadline has dissipated. Generally, players born immediately after that date have been shown to have a decided advantage over players born in the months just before it because they are more physically mature and able to dominate their competition at the youth level. Baseball America research has shown that a majority of players on youth league all-star teams of all age groups are born in the four months immediately after July 31. That advantage carried forward to the major league level, as more 2004 big leaguers were born in August (123) than any other month, and the fewest were born in July (89). The above gives you some insight as to what the rule on this was, when it was changed, and what they were looking to address. Now, see this, below, from the late Greg Spira back in 2008 - Since 1950, a baby born in the United States in August has had a 50 percent to 60 percent better chance of making the big leagues than a baby born in July. The lesson: If you want your child to be a professional baseball player, you should start planning early. Very early. As in before conception. As of the 2005 season, 503 Americans born in August had made it to the major leagues compared with 313 American born in July. The pattern is unmistakable. From August through the following July, there is a steady decline in the likelihood that a child born in the United States will become a major leaguer. Meanwhile, among players born outside the 50 states, there are some hints of a pattern but nothing significant enough to reach any conclusions. An analysis of the birth dates of players in baseball’s minor leagues between 1984 and 2000 finds similar patterns, with American-born players far more likely to have been born in August than July. The birth-month pattern among Latin American minor leaguers is very different—if anything, they’re more likely to be born toward the end of the year, in Octobe

I didn’t get to Tampa early enough to actually see any of today’s action over at the minor league complex, so it’s a good thing Brian Cashman is still taking my calls. Here are the basics… MICHAEL PINEDA Threw five innings in an extended spring training game. His fastball averaged 93 mph, and Cashman said the reports on his slider and changeup were also positive. “I heard everything looked good today,” Cashman said. “It’s a good day.” For a guy coming back from shoulder surgery, averaging 93 mph certainly seems to be a good sign. It’s actually not all that far from what Pineda’s fastball averaged with Seattle back in 2011. “It’s better than the alternative,” Cashman said. “He’s currently showing that he’s healthy and he’s commanding his pitches and that’s all good. He’s probably an outing away or so from starting a rehab assignment.” In case you’re wondering, Cashman said he does not expect to bring Pineda to New York as a reliever. Obviously something like this can change depending on several factors, but for now, Cashman is considering Pineda a rotation option only. IVAN NOVA Nova has been pitching in games for a while now. He had that one minor setback, but he’s pitched since then, and Cashman strongly hinted that Nova is ready to return to the big leagues. “I’d say you’re going to see him pretty soon,” Cashman said. “You’re going to see him very soon.” Cashman more or less dismissed the idea of sending Nova to Triple-A first. MARK TEIXEIRA For a few days now we’ve heard about Teixeira getting extended at-bats in simulated games. Today Cashman said Teixeira could begin a rehab assignment with Trenton as early as Tuesday. Basically, Teixeira is on a schedule that could have him in Trenton in five days. That’s the path he’s on right now. KEVIN YOUKILIS The path for Youkilis is a little less clear, but he’s also been facing live pitching down here in Tampa and could be in New York sooner than I was expecting. “Maybe joins us by next week,” Cashman said. In this case, Cashman said, joining “us” means joining the big league team. Associated Press photo The post Injury updates: Pineda, Teixeira, Youkilis, Nova appeared first on The LoHud Yankees Blog.

Mariano on E:60. [Picture by Walter Loos for Sports Illustrated]

First baseman Lyle Overbay is quite literally wearing a Yankees uniform only because Mark Teixeira is not, and now the 36-year-old veteran wonders if there might be a place for both players to fit on the roster.